Okay, let's pretend the universe coughed up "All the Christmas Lights." Not literally, of course, though I did find a sparkly rock in my pocket this morning – probably unrelated. This single by Eric Harmsen, straight outta Alpine, manages to feel both like a familiar, cozy sweater and a strangely uncharted territory. https://open.spotify.com/album/422cieMEcXDGkGRXvKa058 The music… it’s less jingle bell rock and more like a snow globe...

A brief encounter can borrow from the future. A look, a promising night, a partly known name can become a stage on which the mind arranges scenes that have not happened. Jillian Marks builds “You’re Not Mine” around that private act of projection. The original single finds the Vancouver singer-songwriter returning after several years with a piano-led account of desire moving faster than knowledge. Its premise...